Hacking the Earthship: In Search of an Earth-Shelter that Works for EveryBody by Rachel Preston Prinz

Hacking the Earthship: In Search of an Earth-Shelter that Works for EveryBody is a comprehensive collection of academic and in-the-field research findings on Earthships, combined with practical how-to advice for designing and financing your own truly sustainable earth-sheltered home.

Author Rachel Preston Prinz and contributing authors discuss the history, research, design issues, and evolution of Earthships, drawing on the knowledge of thousands of builders, craftsmen, and designers who have mastered the art of earth sheltering. Then, they walk readers step by step through design, offering a wealth of resources that can inspire, inform, and educate. Within, readers will find the tools needed to understand their place's culture, architecture, and climate... and the ideal building methods for their climate, personality, values, and budget.
THE NEW GENERATION OF EARTHSHIP ENTHUSIASTS:
• Does not want to cart questionable building materials long distances and call it “green”.
• Wants to build locally and naturally… and they want to build it themselves.
• Wants their buildings to be cool in summer, warm in winter, the humidity to be predictable and regular; and they want to minimize pests and allergens.
• Wants to be able to get a permit and insurance, and resell their homes if they want to; or pass them on if they can.
• They want a smaller home that is “just right”… for their budget, time, ability, energy use, and maintenance.
• They want to make their home easy to manage, maintain, and get around in, even if they are in a walker or wheelchair.
• They want their home to feel like it is made from and relating to the earth: in views, in light, in fresh air, in the ability to grow food, and in a beautiful landscape that supports the home.
Finding the balance between all these desires is a delicate and lengthy process of discernment, study, and goal-setting. That is what this book aims to help you do.
Chapter 1 THE EARTHSHIP REALITY PROJECT discusses the issues and resolutions of the design.
Chapter 2 THE SCIENCE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND TIRE OFF-GASSING reviews academic and scientific research.
Chapter 3 A WAY FORWARD discusses financing and insurance, minimizing waste, managing the complexities of the build, visioning, and Code requirements.
Chapter 4 THE BUILDING’S CONTEXT AND SITE addresses the site and landscape.
Chapter 5 DESIGNING FOR THERMAL COMFORT addresses natural, mechanical, and design options for improving thermal performance. Topics covered include passive solar design; thermal mass versus insulation; earth-coupling versus earth-sheltering; thermal and moisture protection; and natural ventilation.
Chapter 6 THE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM addresses the ways we can form the building’s structure.
Chapter 7 THE ENCLOSURE SYSTEM outlines the construction of the building’s envelope or skin. We discuss traditional earthship building blocks like tire, glass, and can walls, as well as alternative systems like adobe, cob, rammed earth, earthbags, wood block concrete forms, timber frame, log, cordwood, and strawbale buildings. We also cover various roofing options as well as doors and windows.
Chapter 8 ROOMS, SPACES, COLORS, & TEXTURES discusses how we can create a home we love.
Chapter 9 MECHANICAL SYSTEMS outlines basic mechanical, electrical, and plumbing considerations, especially on-grid systems since those are what make an Earthship most affordable.
Chapter 10 IMBUING SPACE WITH SPIRIT - “The WooWoo Chapter” addresses psychological and spiritual aspects of design and covers topics including psychology of space and color, locating power spots, astrologically-correct timing, and Feng Shui and Vaastu.
Chapter 11 CONCLUSION: A NEW SET OF EARTH-SHELTER BUILDING CRITERIA
Chapter 12 OVERWHELMED? NEED HELP? discusses some helpful tips if you hire an architect or residential designer .
The APPENDICES offer resources and worksheets.
Portions of the proceeds will go to our non-profit architectural education programs ARCHITECTURE FOR EVERYBODY and BUILT FOR LIFE.
Contributors include: Debra Bailey, Carrie Christopher, Michael Curry, Richard Flatau, Sigi Koko, Shannon Colvin Matteson, Chiara Riccardi, Maggie Schlarb, Steve Scott, Craig Schreiber, Asha Stout, & Pratik Zaveri

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About Rachel Preston Prinz

Rachel Preston Prinz is an architecturally-trained American designer, preservationist, documentary filmmaker, and artist working in sustainability and architectural engagement. She graduated with a Masters of Architecture and Certificate in Preservation from Texas A&M in 1998. After working in traditional architectural firms for more than 10 years, Rachel started Archinia in 2007 so that she could live her dream of promoting the craft of architecture and the Genius Loci, or Spirit of Place, especially pertaining to U.S. Southern, Mountain, and Southwest indigenous, vernacular, and modern design.
Rachel has served as a preservation commissioner in Taos, as the host of the UNM-Taos Sustainability Institute, and as co-host of TEDxABQWomen. She has won the Echoing Green Work on Purpose challenge and has been named a Green Guardian. Rachel has given multiple TEDx and Pecha Kucha talks on modern applications of vernacular design and critical regionalism, landscape preservation, pattern languages, and photography and Epicureanism. She has given more than 40 presentations, tours, and lectures and written nearly 70 articles integrating archaeology, architecture, place, culture, and emerging trends in sustainability.
Rachel's work has been featured on HGTV’s “You Live in WHAT?”, NMPBS’ “Colores!”, “Home made” on Canadian PBS, and she’s been a featured guest on radio and television, including CBS Radio Women’s Media Center live with Robin Morgan, Women’s Focus, New Mexico PBS, PBS, CBS, Good Morning Vail, and KUNM. An emerging leader in the field of sustainability, Rachel’s been written about in Prime Your Mind For Confidence; Bermuda Quest; The Girls Guide To Swagger; and Accessing Intuition: Stories from Architects and Designers.

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A Photographer's Milky Way Processing Guide – A Photoshop HowTo by Jerry Patterson

Here is an ebook for those who have been struggling with making the Milky Way in your night sky photos stand out. Do you want to make your Milky Way really stand out ... no, pop right out? If so, then this is a must have ebook to get you started. It will take you step by step through a process which will provide you with a Milky Way photo you will be proud to show and print and will "WOW" others.

Here is an ebook for those who have been struggling with making the Milky Way in your night sky photos stand out. Do you want to make your Milky Way really stand out ... no, pop right out? If so, then this is a must have ebook to get you started. It will take you step by step through a process which will provide you with a Milky Way photo you will be proud to show and print.



Your Milky Way should clearly be defined and catch the viewer's eye. It should not look like a fine mist in the sky. Rather, it should stand out and have dramatic color from one end to the near galactic center of the Milky Way.



More often than ever before more people are taking photos of the Milky Way in the night sky but it simply doesn't stand out, regardless of the foreground which may or may not contain a light painted object.



The only thing you need is Photoshop, although I do include a section for Lightroom users that will also be helpful. And I admit, this is a little beyond a beginner's level but if you take your time and go over it, you will achieve that "WOW" look to your Milky Way.



This ebook covers masking the foreground from the night sky and processing each separately but it gets more involved when you come to the point where you use camera raw for initial adjustments to Photoshop for things like exposure, white balance and targeted curve and color adjustments to name a few.



I have also included included a section for Lightroom (LR) users where you make adjustments using LR's Detail and HSL/Color/B&W section and finally I cover noise reduction.



At a later date, I plan to publish a second ebook with more advanced techniques in Photoshop.



Yes, it will be a learning process but it will be fun and later you will be applying your own techniques you have learned to further enhance your Milky Way photos. You will soon be impressed with your Milky Way photos and so will others.

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About Jerry Patterson

I'm a semi-pro photographer in the strict sense. That is to say, I do not make a living solely by photography...I do, like many who call themselves a "pro' , have a full time job outside of photography.



I'm the author of three ebooks 1) "Grand Teton National Park - A Photographer's Site Shooting Guide 1" 2) "Arches National Park - A Photographer's Site Shooting Guide I" and 3) "A Photographer's Milky Way Processing Guide - A Photoshop Howto," And given my June 12-23, 2014 trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I will complete my fourth ebook soon -- "Grand Teton National Park - A Photographer's Site Shooting Guide 2" which will have 70+ additional sites over and above my first ebook based on photography in Jackson Hole.



In these photography shooting guides, I make extensive use of Google satellite map marker where for each site in the ebook I have an associated photo. The reader simply clicks on any photo and the web browser immediately opens the webpage for the Google satellite map marker whereby the reader may easily see the exact site I stood for the photo but more importantly see the road system to the exact site.



I am a photo tour guide and yearly lead two three day sunrise to sunset photo adventure tours in Jackson Hole, WY, home of the majestic Teton Mountains where I also lead Milky Way night sky workshops with light painting objects like the historic Moulton barns and Mormon Row house. No other photo tour host / guide I know of offers this value.



Outside of my Milky Way night sky workshops, I'm also involved in daytime and Milky Way night sky time lapse work.



In July 2013 I participated in the millennial celebration of the historic Moulton Barns in Jackson Hole, WY (USA) by donating two 24x36 inch canvas prints for auction for the preservation of these two barns.



Locally, in my current home town, I provide presentations of my Jackson Hole photos from time to time to the photography club and also instructions on the use of GND filters and Photoshop post processing.



My photos are currently represented by Getty Images and may be seen on several websites. My images found on Getty were first discovered on my Flickr page.



Landscape Photography Magazine selected one of my photos of a sunrise on the Grand Teton among many photos submitted by numerous fine art photographers as the photo of the week ... http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/2014/hedricks-pond-overlook-jackson-hole-wyoming-usa/



This past mid-May through mid-June 2014, I lead two three day sunrise to sunset photo shoot adventure tours in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (USA).



Also, within that time frame, I lead five Milky Way night sky workshops where I took my participants through setting up their camera settings for optimal Milky Way night sky capture. After everyone's camera settings were established, I took everyone through several Milky Way exposures tests with different light balance, ISO settings with varying exposure durations.



Given this workshop scenario, once the participant begins to process their Milky Way photos, each one will be able to determine what is the best settings for their own camera the next time they are out shooting the Milky Way and night sky from three categories: 1) early blue hour, 2) mid-to-late blue hour and 3) dark sky conditions. People are finding out camera settings used to shoot the Milky Way night sky are not the same from one camera manufacturer to another.



During the third weekend in March 2015, I will be leading a 4 night Milky Way night sky workshop in Moab, Utah (USA). The dates are March 20-24.



Additionally, in 2015, I will be conducting numerous Milky Way night sky workshops in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in the beautiful Teton mountains in late June and early July. All workshops will include light painting various objects from numerous arches and Balanced Rock in Moab, Utah to the historic Moulton barns and Mormon Row home in Jackson Hole. When you have a moment, check out a few of my Milky Way night sky photos at www.flickr.com/photos/wrtrekker



In 2015, I have added two additional 4 day photo adventure tours: 1) Glacier National Park (Sept. 4-7) and 2) Colorado fall colors (Oct. 9-12).



If you are interested in attending one or more of these workshop, please send me an email at ... wrtrekker@yahoo.com and specify which one you are most interested in.



Also, my 2015 Jackson Hole, Wyoming Milky Way night sky workshops will be from June 26-28 Please check my Flickr profile page from time to time next year for any additional dates I may add to the July dates at https://www.flickr.com/people/wrtrekker/



Best of luck and thanks for your interest in my ebooks.

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Mindfulness in Pen and Ink by Joyce Block

Mindful! Focused! Calming! Relaxing! This book is a beginning book of how to mindfully draw patterns using the Zentangle® method. The authors, Joyce Block and Don McCollum, are Certified Zentangle teachers. Included in this book are directions and pictures of the steps to create the various patterns..

About Joyce Block

Don McCollum was introduced to Zentangle® by his daughter, Kathryn. She ran across the meditative drawing website on the internet. and thought it would be a pastime she could share with her dad. During a visit home in 2009, she stayed up later every night to learn a pattern and left her rendition for her dad to see each morning. Within the subsequent year, they traveled to Boston for a Zentangle certification workshop. Don became a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) in 2010. He is a retired elementary school teacher and describes himself as a lifelong learner.



Joyce Block, helping Don with a computer problem, was exposed to his Zentangle drawings. Joyce, going through the throws of unsettled retirement issues, asked Don what he had been doing to keep himself busy during his retirement. "Zentangle!" he answered, "a meditative art form." After receiving minimal instruction from Don, she went home to practice and found she needed many more patterns. With Don's help and encouragement, she learned more patterns and became intrigued with the idea that she could create pieces of art. Shortly after, she flew to Providence to become a Certified Zentangle Teacher. She is a church musician and a retired technology teacher.



Don and Joyce became enamored with the process of Zentangle. They wanted to share this art form with everyone. They team teach in elementary, middle, and high schools, retreat centers, classes for challenged youth, diabetic support groups, church groups, cancer support groups and retirement centers.

Price: $4.99 USD

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